Everyone makes mistakes. I had a friend get into a really bad real-estate deal. It was so bad, my 1st response when she called to tell me she bought a house was “is there a cooling off period? Tell me there’s a cooling off period… Email me your contract right now!” We laugh about it now.. sort of.

But some people seem to just constantly do dumb things to themselves. You warn them and they appear to listen but still go ahead and shoot themselves in the foot. Quite often, it’s the same foot in the same way every single time.

As much as you may want to remain emotionally-detached and not judge, you still want to bang your head against the wall just watching them live their lives. THESE people you should reconsider spending too much time with because that constant level of frustration is not worth it and the alternative is to train yourself not to care about their plight.

Lord, why are some people born so clueless?

They probably send their personal message: “Please hurt me, I like it so much.”

I think this leads to two conclusions from me. 1) The sad state of education in financial matters. These cases aren’t limited to this guy. 2) It shows a general confusion and fear that I think most people have with dealing with money, and it’s again sad that it’s in the financial interest of the financial industry as a whole (creditors, banks, financial professionals like investment brokers, etc.) to take people for a ride. Stuff like this really makes me made on multiple levels.

….. OR Were they John’s cosigner? Did John have a cosigner? Why did the cosigner agree to this? If he didn’t have or need a cosigner, does that mean he’s making a ton of money and that we are debating the minutia of how he spends a small percentage of it?

It’s kinda like this, huh?

“If you had a life-threatening illness, would you take your medication? “Of course,” you might say. Not the average patient, though: Even when facing death, a surprisingly high percentage of patients don’t take the medication prescribed to save their lives.”

Doctors can’t really say or so much to get their patients to take life saving medicine and friends can’t stop friends from shooting themselves in the foot . . . or shooting themselves in the foot with a bigger gun after shooting themselves in the foot the first time.

I’m a 22-year-old college student (Finance major) with a job lined up and I bought a new car around last thanksgiving. I did a few weeks of research to know exactly what I wanted (Most car dealerships have online inventories so you can choose the exact car) and then figured out exactly what it was worth. I’ve been saving for it for a while now, got it for $1100 under invoice, paid a little over half down and the rest financed at about 8%. AND I’M 22! I have a credit card, but only to build credit. I would have walked out if the finance guy had said more than 10%.

I loved the idea from yesterday of just leaving the car on the lot. What this guy is doing is sacrificing his financial future (the years when responsible saving and spending mean the most in the long-term) for a BMW. Sounds like the guys at the dealership know a sucker when they see one.

At least the rest of us are getting some entertainment.

Unless someone asks for help, I don’t offer help (not enough hours in the day). I listen (which is usually what the complainer is wanting).